Ostriches - Ms. Bambrick

Ostriches:
Giant Birds
A Reading A–Z Level J Leveled Book
Word Count: 273
LEVELED BOOK • J
Ostriches:
Giant Birds
Connections
Writing and Art
Make a book with three facts
or more that you learned about
ostriches. Illustrate your book
with drawings or pictures.
Science
Compare ostrich eggs to chicken
eggs, looking at the size, shape,
and color of each. How are
they the same? How are they
different? Write a list.
M
Written by Emilio Garcia
Visit www.readinga-z.com
for thousands of books and materials.
www.readinga-z.com
D
RL
GI
AN I
AL
HE
TS OF T
AN
WO
Ostriches:
Giant Birds
Words to Know
hatch
herds
noise
special
warns
wild
Front and back cover: A herd of ostriches gather on the African plains.
Title page: Ostriches are very curious birds. They like to explore new things,
even cameras.
Page 3: A male ostrich (left) and a female ostrich (right) show off their different
feathers.
Photo Credits:
Front cover, back cover: © Horst Klemm/Great Stock/Corbis; cover icon: © Elena
Belyakova/iStock/Thinkstock; title page: © Arco Images GmbH/Alamy; page 3:
© Anup Shah/NPL/Minden Pictures; page 4 (left): © syntika/iStock/Thinkstock;
page 4 (right): © iStock/filo; page 5: © REX USA/Gerard Lacz/Rex; page 6: ©
Image House/amanaimagesRF/Thinkstock; page 8: © Clem Haagner/ardea.com;
page 9: © Fishcat007/Dreamstime.com; page 10: © Clem Haagner/ardea.com;
page 11 (top): © Johncarnemolla/Dreamstime.com; page 11 (bottom): © Thepoo/
Dreamstime.com; page 12: © Ferrero-Labat/Auscape/Minden Pictures; page 13:
© Loflo69/Dreamstime.com; page 14: © DLILLC/Corbis; page 15: © Pixworld/
Dreamstime.com
Written by Emilio Garcia
www.readinga-z.com
Focus Question
What advantages and
disadvantages does the ostrich
have because of its size?
Ostriches: Giant Birds
Giants of the Animal World
Level J Leveled Book
© Learning A–Z
Written by Emilio Garcia
All rights reserved.
www.readinga-z.com
Correlation
LEVEL J
Fountas & Pinnell
Reading Recovery
DRA
J
17
18
How Big Is It?
Ostrich
height: 9 feet (2.74 m)
weight: 350 pounds (158.8 kg)
Human
height: 6 feet
(1.8 m)
weight: 175 pounds
(79.4 kg)
Table of Contents
A Very Big Bird . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Eyes on the Prize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Home, Sweet Home . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
A Very Big Bird
What’s on the Menu? . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Look Out! Run! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
The ostrich is the biggest bird
From Big Egg to Big Bird . . . . . . . 13
in the world.
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Most ostriches are taller than
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
the tallest people.
Ostriches: Giant Birds • Level J
3
4
An ostrich’s wings help keep it from falling when it runs.
Ostriches have wings and feathers,
An ostrich eye is five times bigger than a human eye.
Eyes on the Prize
but they can’t fly.
An ostrich can run fast and far.
Ostriches have small heads
It is the fastest animal with two legs.
with big eyes.
It runs faster than most four-legged
Their eyes are bigger than those
animals.
of any other land animal.
Ostriches: Giant Birds • Level J
5
6
Where Ostriches Live
EUROPE
Ostrich range
AFRICA
Equator
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
INDIAN
OCEAN
ASIA
EUROPE
Ostrich
range
AFRICA
Ostriches live peacefully with many other wild animals.
Home, Sweet Home
Ostriches use teamwork to stay
Most wild ostriches live in Africa.
safe. Their sharp eyes and long
They live in small herds
necks help them spot danger from
of ten or more birds.
far away.
Ostriches: Giant Birds • Level J
7
8
What Makes an Ostrich a Bird?
An ostrich has the
biggest eyes of any bird.
An ostrich has two holes
in its bill to breathe.
An ostrich has wings and
feathers but cannot fly.
An ostrich’s long neck helps it reach food on the ground.
What’s on the Menu?
Ostriches eat grass, other plants,
and fruit.
An ostrich has the
largest eggs of any
land animal.
They also eat bugs and
other small animals.
All birds
• have a backbone
• have feathers
• have wings
Ostriches don’t drink much water.
They get water from the plants
and fruit they eat.
Ostriches: Giant Birds • Level J
9
10
An ostrich only has two
toes on each foot.
• have a bill
• lay eggs
• are warm-blooded
A lion is one of the ostrich’s many enemies.
Look Out! Run!
Lions and cheetahs
hunt ostriches for food.
Ostriches must be
on the lookout.
Their long necks help
An ostrich makes sound from deep in its throat.
them look far.
Ostriches make a loud noise when
They have strong legs and big feet.
they see a lion.
An ostrich can kick very hard.
The noise warns other animals that
Its kick can kill a lion.
lions are near.
Ostriches: Giant Birds • Level J
11
12
A mother ostrich can lay forty to one hundred eggs every year.
From Big Egg to Big Bird
A male ostrich digs a shallow pit
in the dirt for a nest.
Ostrich chicks grow 1 foot (30 cm) every month for six months.
The mother lays her eggs in the pit.
An ostrich chick grows about 1 foot
In six weeks, baby ostriches hatch
(30 cm) per month.
from the eggs.
In six months, the baby ostrich
A baby ostrich is the size
will be grown.
of a grown chicken.
It can live for fifty years or more.
Ostriches: Giant Birds • Level J
13
14
hatch (v.)
Glossary
to break open, such
as when a bird breaks
out of an egg (p. 13)
herds (n.)
groups of large land
animals (p. 7)
noise (n.)
a sound that is loud
or unpleasant to hear
(p. 12)
special (adj.) better than or
different from normal
(p. 15)
An ostrich can run up to 45 miles per hour (72.4 kph).
Conclusion
Ostriches are special birds.
warns (v.)
alerts to danger
(p. 12)
wild (adj.)
in a natural state; not
controlled by humans
(p. 7)
They are strong and fast.
Ostriches are bigger than
any other bird.
Ostriches: Giant Birds • Level J
15
16